Hard to believe I had never made this popular cake after all the hundreds of cakes I have made over the last 20 years. I had never made it because it calls for so much food coloring and so determined to try both the original recipe and something more healthy.

For the orginal version I used Sweetapolita’s recipe for the cake, but made my own frosting version. Her cakes are always good, and I knew it would turn out!

The original recipe turned out a rich red as was required, but with my experiement I decided to try beet powder that I had purchased from Manas Garšas to try to give it red color.

The batter for the beet version was a nice redish purple before baking, but afterwards was more of a dark purple brown. The taste however, was excellent. I used 3 T of beet powder and you couldn’t taste it at all. But the cake was moist and rich.

I finished off both of the cakes as desired – one with a chocolate design I drew around the sides and fresh raspberries and sugar roses, the other with fresh roses, and strawberries. I know we enjoyed the beet version. Hoping my custom order was enjoyed too.

Next time I will have to try using natural food coloring, or more beet poweder, or boiled beets which I also saw some recipes for.